Smoothing comb ii



nited States Patent O 3,473,540 SMOO'I'HING CGMB 1I William N. Bulow, San Diego, Calif., assignor to Smoothie lProducts, Inc., Burbank, Calif., a corporation of California Filed Uct. 6, 1966, Ser. No. 585,999 Int. Cl. A45d 24/04 ILS. Cl. 132-139 1 Claim ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A single comb having an elongated plastic handle and two sets of teeth located at one end of the handle. One set of teeth is metal and suitable for smoothing, the other set of teeth are plastic and are shorter and more numerous for teasing and snarling the hair as required for many new hair styles. The plastic teeth for teasing and snarling have a plurality of lengths.

This invention relates to a comb and a method for forming a comb.

In recent years it has become quite common in womens hairstyles to wear the hair in styles involving extremely long hair which is shaped in various up-sweep configurations such as commonly referred to as bouffant styles and others. Such styles are generally unmanageable by a single conventional comb structure and require a comb structure capable of snarling, teasing, frenching and also capable of smoothing the long hair once snarled. To meet these demanding requirements, beauty shops in position to aiford expensive equipment have employed many different types of combs ranging from all-steel constructions to allplastic constructions to accomplish the various grooming functions. Such a network of equipment is impractical, complex and expensive for normal everyday use and personal care.

It is the purpose of this invention to provide simple single comb structure which enables modern hair grooming manipulations to be accomplished with relative ease and little expense and which may be conveniently carried in a womans purse. To this end, a comb is provided having an elognated plastic handle and two sets of teeth located at one end of this handle. One set of teeth are integrally molded plastic teeth and the other set of teeth are embedded steel teeth having a substantially longer length than the plastic teeth and spaced on substantially wider center lines than the plastic teeth. It is the long steel teeth along an elongated handle that enables the sweeping smoothing movement necessary to smooth modern hairdos to be readily accomplished. It is the shorter plastic teeth which may be readily moved over the hair by the elongated handle to facilitate teasing. The combination of these teeth in a single element provides the advantages of a steel comb and a plastic comb in a single structure at a cost in the range of plastic combs. Furthermore, it reduces the space requirement in womens handbags necessary to accommodate a plurality of combs and it enables the hair to be groomed with a single element which makes it unnecessary to frequently change instruments during the grooming operations.

In addition to the above structure, this invention provides a means for fabricating a comb on a mass production basis at a relatively low cost per comb with said comb having an extremely rugged construction. Briefly, the method of this invention comprises supporting a plurality of pins in a iixed position wherein a portion of the pins are exposed, placing the exposed portions of the pins in a mold for forming a comb with plastic teeth, and flowing a plastic material into the mold to form a plastic comb including plastic teeth and to embed the pins therein as a second set of teeth in opposed relationship to the plastic teeth.

The above comb structure and method for forming a comb will be completely understood from the detailed description which follows with reference to the tigures wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective of the improved comb structure;

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view of the left end of the comb with a portion in cross-section;

FIGURE 3 is a bottom view of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 is a schematic diagram of the method for forming a comb.

Referring to FIGURE 1, the comb 10 includes elongated plastic handle 12 having a predetermined length 14. The handle 12 includes a portion commonly described as a rattail section 16. The handle 12 may be made from any of the well-known plastics commonly employed for combs such as cycolac and styrene. The length 14 is preferably in excess of 5 inches and typically 6 inches long. It is important that the handle 12 have a substantial length in order for the individual to accomplish the desired grooming operations such as smoothing with the usual wrist-like movement. The wrist-like movement of combing is quite common in such grooming operations as smoothing, teasing and other operations common to long hairstyles.

A first comb portion 18 is located at one end of handle 12 in a plastic holder portion 20 which is integral with handle 12. The rst comb portion 18 includes a plurality of metal (e.g., stainless steel) teeth 22 located along a second predetermined length 24 which is substantially shorter than the first predetermined length 14. Typically, the second predetermined length 24 is in the approximate range of 21/2 inches or less. The teeth 22 are spaced 0n center lines 26 separated by approximately at least /l of an inch and have a height 28 in excess of 3A inch. The metal teeth 22 are typically stainless steel pins having a diameter of less than an eighth of an inch, for example, 1/16 inch. The teeth 22 are embedded and held securely in the holder portion 20. The manner in which this is accomplished is described later in the specification in connectibon with FIGURE 4 and the method for forming a com A second comb portion 30 is also located at one end of the handle 12 in opposed relationship to the first comb portion 18. The second comb portion 30 includes a plurality of plastic teeth integrally formed in said comb holder portion 20 and including teeth 32, 34 and 36. The teeth 32, 34 and 36 are of different heights and spaced along approximately the same second predetermined length 24, although this length may be diiferent than the second predetermined length 24. The teeth 32, 34 and 36 are spaced on center lines substantially closer together than the center lines 26. For example, the teeth 32, 34 and 36 are located on center lines 38 which may be separated by distance of 3/32 inch. Thus, there are generally more than twice as many teeth 32, 34 and 36 as compared to teeth 22. In addition, the teeth 32, 34 and 36 have a height substantially less than that of the teeth 22. For example, such teeth may have a maximum height of 5/s inch and individual heights of 1A, V16 and respectively.

In using the comb 10 the individual grips the rattail portion 16 and in performing such operations as teasing, frenching or similar snarling manipulations holds portions of the hair and moves second comb portion 30 thereover in short chopping strokes in a substantially vertical direction. This results in a snarling and teasing of the hair so that it remains in a substantially vertical direction. The smooth plastic teeth 32, 34 and 36 do not break or damage the hair. Following this operation, the rst comb portion 18 may be employed with long gentle strokes to smooth and contour the hairstyle. The wide spacing of the teeth, the extended height of the teeth combined, the small diameter of the metal teeth and the long rattail handle facilitates this operation and results in a very effective smoothing of the hair. In addition, the steel construction of teeth 22 provides the necessary strength. The rattail handle may also be inverted and employed to detail and perform other operations.

The invented method for making a comb will be described with reference to FIGURE 4 wherein FIGURE 4a shows a holder 40 having a plurality of holes 42 equal to a number to the number of teeth 22. The holder 40 may be made of any suitable material such as aluminum or steel or other similar material. The holes 42 have a depth adequate to support these teeth 22 in the substantially vertical direction with little horizontal movement, that is, the diameter of the holes 42 is substantially the same as; the diameter of the pins 22 with the only dierence being that sufficient to permit clearances. The pins 22 are placed in the holes 42 with a portion of their length exposed` Thus, a plurality of teeth or pins are supported in a fixed position for mounting in a comb structure (FIGURE 4a).

Next (FIGURE 4b), the holder 40 with the pins placed therein is positioned in the proximity of a mold 46 having a cavity 48 for forming a comb including a plurality of plastic teeth. The holder 40 is positioned adjacent the mold 46 with the pins 22 fitting through openings 50 in the mold 46 and projecting into the cavity 48 so that when material is flowed into the mold it will surround the pins 22 and secure them to the comb as part thereof. The mold 46 comprises two mold halves S2 and 54 which may be molds constructed in accordance with well-known principles of casting and molding. The cavity 48 of the mold 46 has a configuration which is the female image of the plastic portion of the comb shown in FIGURES 1-3. Thus, the exposed portions of pins 22 are placed in the mold for forming a comb with plastic teeth in such a manner that the pins may form a part of such comb by being embedded therein.

Following the placement of the holder 40 adjacent the mold 46 a material is poured or flowed into mold 46 to form a comb including pins 22. Typically, the material poured into molds 46 is a plastic such as cycolac or styrene which readily flows into the portion of the mold cavity designed to form the teeth and also surrounds the portions of pins 22 inserted into the mold forming a bond therewith. In some instance it is desirable to score or roughen the portions of pins 22 extending into the mold in order to form a secure bond between the plastic and the pins (FIGURE 4b).

After an adequate setting time the holder 40 is removed from the vicinity of dye 46 leaving the pins as part of the comb structure. The mold halves 52 and 54 are then separated and the comb structure 10 is removed. It should be understood that it is usual to form a plurality of combs simultaneously in a single mold. In addition, it is possible to use materials other than plastic to form the comb structure which receives the pins 22 and forms the teeth in opposition thereto.

From the above description, it can be seen that a method is provided for forming combs wherein a comb ls formed having the advantage of plastic teeth and steel teeth at the cost of a plastic comb. In addition, the process provides a comb with both the advantages of a plastic comb and a metal comb.

What is claimed is:

1. A comb comprising an elongated rattail plastic nandle having a first predetermined length in excess of ve inches; a first comb portion at one end of said elongated handle having a second predetermined length less than three inches; a plurality of stainless steel teeth having a pin-like configuration spaced over said second predetermined length, said second predetermined length at least less than half of said first predetermined length, said stainless steel teeth being embedded and having diameters ot less than one-sixteenth of an inch and spaced on center lines separated at least three-sixteenths of an inch and having a height in excess of three-quarters of an inch; a second comb portion at said one end of said elongated handle in opposed relationship to said first comb portion having a plurality of integral plastic teeth thereon, said second comb portion having at least twice as many teeth of shorter length than said first comb portion positioned along approximately the same second predetermined length and said plastic teeth having at least three different heights whereby a single comb is provided which can be easily used to tease, manipulate and smooth the hair of the user.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS D. 159,106 6/1950 Stamp V32-R22 D. 195,393 6/1963 Safianoi.

3,148,686 9/1964 Cournoyer 132--l49 3,324,865 6/1967 Battaglia 132-126 LOUIS G. MANCENE, Primary Examiner J. W. MITCHELL, Assistant Examiner 

